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Hugh I
Hugh I, King of Angelona, of House Beaumont, born in Bourgenay in 1344, died 1501, was an Angelonian King from 1374 to his death in 1401. Early life Hugh was born in 1344 in Bourgenay, the son of Robert II and Marie of Cyprus. At the age of 8 he was sent to live at the court of King Hugh IV of Cyprus, his maternal grandfather and returned to Angelona at the age of 14. In 1365 Hugh accompanied his father on the Alexandrian Crusade and became a member of his fathers elite guard. After the Alexandrian Crusade, Hugh was placed in command of a fleet of ships and made a number of successful voyages aground the Aegean Sea and North Africa, sacking a number of cities. In 1363, Hugh married Princess Louisa of Sicily, the daughter of Frederick III of Sicily, who gave birth to Prince Richard in 1366. Ottoman Wars In 1394, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed a new crusade against the Turks, although the Western Schism had split the papacy in two, with rival popes at Avignon and Rome, and the days when a pope had the authority to call a crusade were long past. Hugh raised an army of around 6,000 men and set sail from Angelona in January 1396. The Angelonian army landed in Thessaloniki and marched north sacking a number of Turkish settlements, cutting a swathe of destruction through Ottoman territory. On the 15 September, the army arrived at the city of Nicopolis and joined with the main Crusader army who had besieged Nicopolis. Two weeks later, Sultan Bayezid arrived with a large army to the south of the town and took up a strong defensive position, challenging the crusaders to meet him. The crusader army moved to confront him on 24 September, but poor discipline and fractured leadership between the national factions resulted in a premature assault by the French force against the bluffs controlled by Ottoman troops. With the allied army strung out, Bayezid marshaled his reserves and defeated the crusaders in a furious engagement in which fell most of the allied army. Thousands more were captured and executed after the battle by the victorious Turkish troops. Hugh managed to escape the battlefield along with around 200 of his men. He accompanied Sigismund to Constantinople where he awaited the arrival of Angelonian ships. Hugh agreed to pay the Ottomans 100,000 florins to secure the release of around 300 Angelonian prisoners, before departing for Angelona. In 1399, Hugh raised a fleet of 200 Angelonian ships, supported by the Knights of Rhodes and began a two year campaign of raiding the Turkish coast. The Angelonian naval force caused huge destruction along the Turkish coast and Hugh raised huge amounts of loot from Turkish coastal settlements. In 1401 the Angelonian's laid siege to the city of Smyrna. After a two month siege the city fell and was sacked. Large amounts of loot and captives were shipped back to Angelona, but whilst in Smyrna, Hugh fell ill and died on the return voyage to Angelona. Category:Angelonian monarchy Category:House of Beaumont